


For Eternity

by Sammip133



Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-07-07 12:29:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15908286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sammip133/pseuds/Sammip133
Summary: Meg Thomas hasn't been back to this park since the worst day of her life.  Going to face her fears, and blow off some steam, she finds herself trapped in a game of otherworldly horrors.  With her newfound companions, she sets out to escape from this hellish realm.  Hopefully, along the way, she'll also find some answers as well.  The past can't be fixed, but the future won't be lost so easily.





	1. In the Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first story, I hope you all enjoy! :)

Chapter 1 :  In the Beginning

  


     Meg Thomas needed to clear her head.   _Yes, a good run could do wonders, kid!_ It seemed that even these days, her high school coach’s voice was almost synonymous with her own inner one.  

 

     Today was a surprisingly chilly summer day.  Meg was wearing her new running clothes and old high school sneakers.  Her new clothes were this month's splurge. All of her other money had to go to her mother's care.   Meg wasted away at a deadbeat job while she should’ve been going to fucking college. All this pent up energy, all these negative atmospheres, all this fucking shit of a life.  It reminded her of all her days in middle school.

 

     God, she thought _way_ too much.    

 

     She looked around her.  Meg had gone to a park at the edge of her town.  She hadn’t been here since she was a child. _She was too afraid to go back after the  accident…_...But that didn’t matter anymore.  She’d get over this fear today. No amounts of therapy had fixed it, and with her mom currently dying at home, and her life going nowhere, she figured she’d take a day off to get over her fears…..And this one seemed a lot more tangible than the fear of losing the only parent she’d ever known.  

 

     Lost in thought, Meg tripped over an overgrown vine stemming from the woods.  “Fuck!” She yelled, sitting up to get a good look at her now cut knee. It was a sizable gash, and it drizzled a bit down her leg.  She’d have to take care of that quick;she needed to get home. “Fucking vine, what the fuck.” Her mother would’ve yelled at her for being crass, but that was the one habit from her rebel days she wouldn’t let go of.  Meg looked over toward the woods, looking for the source of the vine, only to see a giant spider web in the forest, almost hidden behind the frontmost tree. A spider, feasting and it’s prey, sat there viciously.

 

     Meg never liked spiders.  

 

     "Oh-fuck off!”  She yelled again, afterward getting up and dusting off her clothes.  She looked around expecting to see an more humble passerby giving her a look, but she saw no one.  When she turned back around, she saw a child in the middle of the road. “Are you ok?” She called out, but the child didn’t turn around.  Meg’s eyes swept over the kid, noticing the tattered clothes and worn out shoes. “Hey kid, you need help? …..Where are your parents? Do-do you want me to call someone?.............Hey if you don’t answer me, I’m gonna call 9-1-1!”  She paused, reaching for her phone. The child was silent. “Hey, I’m calling! I’m-No one’s gonna hurt you!”

 

    “That’s because they already have.”  The girl spoke, turning around. The jingle of her bell necklace sent off warning signs in Meg’s head.   _No_.  

 

    “Emily?  E-E-Em? Wha-What the hell….?”  Meg hadn’t seen the girl since she was a child.  This wasn’t real. It had to be a hallucination. Maybe she hit her head and didn’t notice.  This girl couldn’t be here, still this _young_ .  But hell, with the tattered clothes, God-it’s how she always imagined she would look like when they found her body.   _Wait, they never did_ , _did they?_  Megs mind grew fuzzy.  She turned and ran, to her left for some reason.  She hurtled right through the spider web, not caring about the creature and its victim anymore.   _There were more frightening things to worry about_.  

 

    Snap! Snap! Snap!  Meg kept running, blood oozing down her leg.  The sounds of twigs breaking beneath her shattered the air.  Out of the corners of her eyes , she saw the girl- _Emily_ -the one so impossibly there.  Darkness crept out of every crevice of the forest.  Consuming the corners of leaves, eating away at Megs vision.  She was out of breath. _They both were_.  They felt like they were running for eternity.  

 

    Meg and Emily raced until darkness consumed them both.  Leaving nothing but a broken path behind. The vine inched back to its otherworldly hiding spot.  Its job was done.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

_“Hey, Meg!”  Emily called.  The two girls were outside of Emily's house.  It was so much different from Megs…...so much nicer.  Meg was used to living alone with her mom in their 2 bedroom townhouse.  Emily was used to a big house with an even bigger yard bordering a small forest._

_“Yeah?”  young Meg said.  She was in the midst of taking off her new sneakers, still not broken in.  They were bought two weeks ago, for her eighth birthday. “You done swinging yet?  I wanna see that river you were talking about! It’s not too far into the forest, is it?  I don’t wanna walk too far barefoot.”_

_“Yeah……”  Emily said, pulling her pigtails tighter.  The girl stared at the corner of the sing set, glancing over the spider making a web there.  “Mom said I’m not allowed to go into the forest anymore, she’s says there might be strangers in there.”_

 

_“Well, your mom doesn’t even let you walk farther than down the road.  I even get to bike here!” Meg stated, waltzing off the porch and up to the swing set.  The other girl was swinging anymore, so Meg took the liberty of starting to push her. It wasn’t the easiest on her eight year old body, but she made do._

 

_“Well….your mom is different.  She works a lot and stuff, so you get to do stuff on your own since she isn’t there!  You’re so lucky….” Meg stopped swinging the girl then. Sure, Meg was arguably fine. But no one had ever called her lucky before.  They always looked at her sadly. She was known still as the girl with no father._

 

_“You’re the one who’s lucky!”  Meg yelled, moving over to sit on the other swing, slowly pushing off with her feet.  “You get like, a nice house and stuff! And a big family!” ‘And a dad!’ She wanted to yell, but kept that one to herself.  “It’s like...whatever though Em. Mom just says things aren’t always equally shared or something like that. It isn’t your fault.  Mom hates like….millionaires or whatever. I don’t know. She always goes off on those rants…...Hey, are you ok?” Meg stopped her bambling to look at her friend, now turned around on the swing.  Emily was staring at the forest._

_It was creepy, or so Meg thought.  Meg had only seen one horror movie in her life, something she watched when her mother went to sleep before she did.  She sat next to her snoring mother on the couch, staring at the scary girl coming out of the well on tv. Hair oozed over her head like an unexplainable darkness.  Meg got chills during that scene. And she got chills during this event unfolding in front of her._

 

_Emily pointed toward the woods.  “Do you believe in monsters? Mom and dad say they don’t exist, but sometimes when I look out my bedroom window at night, I swear I see things out there.  They scare me. Like, a lot, Meg.”_

 

_“Do you want me to go get your mom?  Or brother?” Meg said, getting up and getting ready to call out for someone inside the house._

 

_“NO! I-I mean, it’s ok!  It’s like I said, mommy doesn’t think it’s anything.  She said if I keep scaring myself before going to sleep, she’s gonna take me to see some doctor or something.  And you know I hate doctors!” Emily turned back to Meg, weariness in her eyes._

 

_“Ok….are you sure?”  Meg asked. She went up to her friend, putting a hand gently on her shoulder.  “Do you need a hug?”_

 

_“Nah, it’s ok.  Lucas says I’m not a baby anymore and shouldn’t hug as much.  But between you and me, I think he just gets embarrassed when I hug him in public.  I saw a group of big kids laugh at him one day when I hugged him at school.” Emily said the last bit with some laughter.  She got up from her spot on the swing, and took Megs hand. She pulled her toward the house. “Hey! Wanna play Barbies in my room?”_

 

_“Sure!”  Meg said, letting herself get pulled along by the other girl.  Before they reached the porch, Emily slowed down. Turned to Meg._

 

_“Hey….can you keep a secret Megan?”  Emily asked, quiet now._

_“Hey!  I told you to stop calling me Megan!  That isn’t even my full name. And it’s too long to be a nickname!”  Meg said laughing. Noticing the other girls demeanor, she stopped and said solemnly, “But for real, sure I can, I’m your best friend!”_

 

_“I lied about the woods.  I mean, my mom and dad don’t even know I’ve been in there.  But, like….I don’t know.  You’re gonna have to trust me, but I don’t think it’s safe in there.  I don't wanna go in there again.” Emily sighed, turning at the sound of knocking on the sliding glass door.  Her mother's signal that it was time to come in for dinner._

 

_“Why didn’t you just say you didn’t wanna go, dummy!  I’m not gonna make you!” Meg said, now being the one to pull Emily along._

 

_Meg opened the door, quickly grabbing her shoes before doing so.  Emily took one last glance at the forest before heading inside._

 

_Emily shivered, having sworn she could’ve seen a face there._

  
  
  
  
  



	2. Meeting Each Other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meg meets some new allies.

Chapter 2 :Meeting Each Other

  
  


Meg woke up to stinging in her leg.  Through hazy vision, she could barely make out the form of someone bending over her.  She felt more stinging in her leg. “Fuck!” She called out. 

 

    “Oh-hey!  I’m sorry-I’m sorry, I thought you were still unconscious.  I didn’t want your cut to get infected.” Megs vision came into focus.  Before her was a girl who looked just a few years older than her. Her eyes looked sad.  She was probably just worried about upsetting Meg. The other girl held a bottle of rubbing alcohol in her hand.  

 

    “It’s, um, ok.”  Meg said, groaning as she pulled herself up.

 

    “Woah there!”  shouted an annoying voice.  Meg turned her head slightly and caught sight of a guy in a suit, sans the jacket.  Next to him was another man, probably around Meg’s age.

 

    “Wait….who the fuck are you?  Where am I?” Meg said. She looked around frantically as everything came back to her.   Around her, there were woods. A dense fog covered the edge of their clearing. In the middle of their group was a campfire.  On the side of one of the sitting logs was a flashlight, key, and what looked like a toolbox. “Did I pass out near your campsite or something?  Listen, if any of you have a car, I, like, really need to get home to my mom. She-FUCK-she’s gotta be so worried. I  _ need _ to get home.  Like,  _ now _ .”  

 

    “Calm down!”  Annoying voice said again.  “We aren’t-We don’t even know each other.  But-anyway-you came stumbling in here a while ago and passed out.  Apparently all of us have.” 

 

    “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”  Meg said. 

 

    “Hey, it’s ok.  Wait! Don’t try to get up.  Your knee! I need to wrap it up first.”  The other girl said to her. Meg looked at her closely.  She looked normal, but obviously had some first aid knowledge.  She held a med kit in her hands and was searching through it for what Meg presumed were bandages.  

 

    “So…..who the fuck are you people?  What do you mean you don’t know each other?”  Meg prayed they weren’t some cult. But judging by their attire, either this cult didn’t have a dress code, or these people didn’t come from the same walks of life.  “Y’all aren’t even dressed for the woods.” 

 

    “Hey, I was on a work retreat!  But they all had to go and fucking  _ ditch me _ .  And-And then- I don’t know I was wondering but everything seemed really dark and then I woke up here to Jake slapping my face.”  Annoying man blabbered, pointing a finger to his left.. Meg still didn’t understand. Though she was slowly registering what he said.   _ Maybe I hit my head _ , she thought.  

 

    “Listen, Dwight?  No one cares about your life story.”  The man Meg assumed was Jake said. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes.  “Like we’ve all talked this out already before you even showed up. We all got here, passed out, and now we’re stuck.  We can’t leave. So don't’ get your hopes up.” 

 

    Before Meg could even fathom about answering to the bollocks Jake just said,  the other girl spoke, drawing Megs attention away from the two guys. “I’m Claudette.  Um, sorry for hurting you earlier. I’m a botany student, but I know a lot of medical stuff too.  Not that you , uh, need my  _ life story _ or anything.”  She smiled at Meg.   _ God, what a pretty smile _ .   “Sorry, I know this has to be a lot, but you need to listen to us.  Jake is right. We’re kinda stuck here right now.” 

 

    “......uh”  Meg was drawing a blank.  The last thing she remembered she was- _ nevermind _ .  But that didn’t matter.  How did she pass out? Why were these strangers here?  “How the fuck are we stuck?”

 

    Dwight spoke first.  “We can’t leave, dude.  We’ve tried. We just keep ending up on the other side.  It’s like, circumnavigation or whatever. And each of us has tried, so I doubt it wouldn’t be the same for you.  Good luck if you try though, you’ll feel light headed afterward.” 

 

    Meg still wasn’t understanding what they were saying.  She got up, stepping away from the campfire and towards the woods.   _ I gotta get away _ .  She ran.  Like she always did from her problems.  

 

    “Wait!”  Claudette yelled.

 

    “Hey! Oh whatever, she’ll be back.”  Dwight said, fiddling with his fingers.  

 

    “She probably won’t do it as many times as you though.”  Jake stated. 

 

    “Shut the fuck up, Jake.”  Dwight muttered. 

 

    Meg ran faster, away from their voices.  She saw something up ahead. She kept running toward the light.  She slowed down when she realized she was back at the campfire. 

 

    “Welcome back.”  Dwight said. 

 

    “ _ No _ ” Meg said quietly.  She ran through the woods , at different directions, three more times before she stopped.  “WHAT THE FUCK?!” She screamed at the top of her lungs. Everything in her vision was spotted.  Nothing in the woods was even rustling. No animals, no birds, she heard  _ nothing _ …...nothing except the snickering from Dwight.

 

   “Wow, see?”  Jake said, crossing his arms.  “Not even Speedy Gonzales over here could break your record, Dwight.”  

 

    Dwight was still laughing.  “You ran  _ so fucking fast _ .”  He wheezed out. 

 

    Meg, still panting, went over and smacked him  _ hard _ across the head.  

 

    “Hey, what the FUCK?”  Dwight said incredulously.  Now it was Jake and Claudettes turn to laugh.   _ God, her laugh is a jingle.   _ Meg thought , before shaking her head.  She didn’t want to think about jingles right now.  She went over toward Claudette and sat on the log next to hers.  

 

    “I don’t…..understand…...Am I dead?”  Meg asked. Shugs from her other companions answered that question for now.  “God this  _ feels _ like purgatory.  But-”

 

    “Hey, listen, don’t stress about it right now.”  Claudette said. “I found the bandages, let me wrap up your leg.”  As the other girl was helping her, Meg let her head swim.  _ Can’t leave.  Endless loop. Strangers.  Emi-NO _ .  “I know it’s a lot to take in, and trust me that I’m still processing this shit as well, but we need to remain calm.  Panicking isn’t gonna get us out of this nightmare.” 

 

    “I doubt we’re gonna wake up.”  Said Jake, who got up and went to stand near Meg.  He reached down and picked up the tool box before heading back to his seat.  

 

    “What are you gonna do, build us a way out?”  Dwight said, before going back to rubbing his head.  

 

    “No, I just like tool boxes.  I build stuff at home sometimes.”  Jake respond. 

 

    “I- _ pant- _ I don’t get this.”  Meg said. Claudette had finished patching her up, so she drew in her legs to rest her chin on her knees.  Meg wanted to focus on calm breathing.  _ Remember what your therapists told you _ .  Unfortunately, it wasn’t working.  “I don’t get it-why-WHY-am I here? What the hell is this? Is this some kind of sick joke?”  

 

    “I really don’t know.”  Claudette said, coming over to sit closer to Meg.  She patted her on the shoulder. “I’m sure everything will be ok though!  There has to be some explanation for this.” 

 

    “What like, ‘Oh, there’s a reason for everything that happens to us’?”  Dwight asked mockingly. 

 

    Jake said, “I think she meant more like magic or whatever.”  

 

    “Actually, I meant more like a sciency reason, but-yeah….magic could work at this point as well.”  

 

    Meg sat there quietly.  She didn’t know what else to say.  Apparently she was stuck here, and lord knows she didn’t want to run anymore.  And from what these people said, they all wound up here the same way. “I’m Meg.”  

 

    Dwight asked, “Like, Megan?”

 

    “No.”  Said Meg.  “ _ Never _ call me Megan.”

 

    “Oh, uh sorry, um,  _ Meg _ .”  Dwight said quietly.  

 

    “I’m gonna get some rest.”  Meg said abruptly, before laying on her side on the ground.  Her head was killing her.

 

    “Yeah, we’ve all been taking turns doing that.  After that run, you’ll need a good nap.” Jake said.  

 

    “Yeah.”  Meg said.  “I will.” 

  
  
  


                                                                                                                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

_     “Hey, Em, wait up!”  Meg said. The girls were riding their bikes around the nearby park.  Em’s brother and mother were nearby, getting ice cream from a stand.  _

 

__

_     “You gotta keep up, Megan!”  Em yelled back. She seemed to be doing a lot better of late.  Happier, even……...Her mother had started taking her to that doctor.  The therapist convinced Emily, for now at least, that monsters aren't real, but her wild imagination was.   _

 

_     “Hey, wanna stop for a second?”  Meg asked, gasping for air. She pulled over by a bench overlooking a hill.  She let her bike drop haphazardly to the ground. Meg plopped herself unceremoniously on the bench.  Emily rode back a bit, then stood her bike up on the back of the bench.  _

 

_     “The view is really pretty here!”  Emily stated excitedly. She smiled gently at Meg before poking her in the shoulder.  “Hey, maybe we can get ice cream with Lucas and mom!”  _

 

_     “Yeah, that’d be nice!”  Meg said. She smiled at the scenery, looking at a family playing baseball in the grass.  That family even had a dad.  _

 

_     Emily felt cold.  She turned around, gasping at the woods.  “Fuck!” Emily said, drawing the attention of a couple kids nearby.  It surprised Meg, since she never heard Emily curse before. Meg was afraid to use curse words.  She didn’t know what had brought her friend to say that kind of thing.  _

 

_     Emily suddenly started screaming.  She got up, holding her head. She stared at the woods ahead.  Meg and everyone nearby stared at her. “Hey, Em, are-are you ok?  Please-please stop screaming! Everyone is looking at us!” Meg got up, reaching out for her friend.  Then Emily’s knees quaked, shaking the girl enough to make her back up a couple more inches, right next to the hills slope.  “EM!”  _

 

__ _ Emily fell.  She tumbled roughly down the hill, still screaming.  Everything else seemed silent. All that Meg heard was the girls screaming, until her voice seemed to give out from the strain.  Meg tried to run down the hill after her, but ending up tumbling down as well. Meg ran closer to her friend, bending over her and shaking her shoulders.  Emily’s mouth was still open in a silent scream. A crowd gathered. Some kids looked worried, others laughed. Parents stepped closer; one was one the phone.  Suddenly, Emily’s mother and Lucas were standing by Meg, who was still trying to shake her friend out of her confusion.  _

 

__ _ Emily’s mother pulled Meg away.  She was about to go back, but Lucas held on to her arm with a ‘please don’t’ look on his face.  “It’s ok.” He whispered. “She’s done this before. She’ll snap out of it.”  _

 

__ _ “I called an ambulance” one woman spoke.  Emily’s mother could only nod. She quietly scooped Emily up into her arms.  A police officer entered the circle.  _

 

_     “Is everything ok here?”  He asked.  _

 

_     “She-she fell down the hill.”  Emily’s mother said. Her voice was shaking.   _

 

_     “Ok everybody, go back to your own business.  I’ve got this covered.” The officer said, before whispering to Emily’s mother.  Lucas look at Meg, letting go of her arm.  _

 

_     “What-what just happened?”  Meg asked brokenly. She had only scene this kind of terrifying thing in her mother's police shows.   _

 

_     “I’m sorry.”  Lucas said sadly.  “We don’t know what’s wrong with her.”   _

  
  



	3. Big Night Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The journey is just beginning.

 

Chapter 3: Big Night Out

  


    Meg woke up, still feeling exhausted.  She looked around. Jake was lounging against a log, while Dwight was playing with the flashlight.  Meg turned her head to the right to see Claudette picking at her fingernails.

 

    “How long have I been out?”  Meg mumbled. Her vision was still a bit hazy.

 

    “I….honestly don’t know, sweetheart.  I mean, it’s felt like an hour? Maybe? But everytime I think about how long we’ve been here….time seems to blur together?  It’s really disorienting. Plus, I don’t think anything around us has changed. Like, the sky and crap. Which is _damn_ crazy.”  Jake said, waving his hands around.  Meg looked up, noticing it was still super dark outside.  It shouldn’t have been suspicious, but the distinct lack of noise except the crackle of the fire disturbed her.  

 

    Jake picked up the toolbox again, fiddling with the lock.  Claudette, in turn, picked up the med kit and searched around inside.  “We should take stock of what we have,” Claudette mumbled.

 

    Dwight looked up and said, “What? Like you haven't taken stock of what's inside there, like, nine times already?  And Jake already said there's just some basic tools in the box. Plus we have, get this, a _flashlight._ And I guess the key, but god knows when we’ll see a door.”  He sighed, obviously frustrated….Which was pretty fair considering their situation.  “Here, Meg, why don't you take the key? Each of us has something, and if I learned anything from my shitty work retreat it’s _balance is key_.”

 

    Meg figured the guy just had OCD or something.  Either way, she reached over and grabbed the key.  It was a rusted thing, definitely old. They didn’t make them like these anymore.  As Meg shuffled to sit on the log, she felt something fall out of her pocket. _Her phone_.  “HOLY FUCK!”  Meg had completely forgotten about her phone.  She just prayed she had enough battery left.

 

    “Hey, that’s not gonna-”  Jake started.

 

    “FUCK!”  Meg yelled, throwing her phone onto the ground.  Her screen was dark, not lighting up for anything.  She was stuck here, with some random people, and _lord_ , she didn’t even wanna think about the mind fuck that was the infinite forest.  

 

    “Sorry.  All our phones were like that.”  Claudette said quietly. “Actually, you’ve been handling this pretty well.  Or, well, it probably hasn’t set in yet, in between you waking up and passing out again.  You were probably not thinking straight. I mean, I’ve been here for like what, half a day now?  I can’t even tell anymore…..”

 

    “Wait….”  Meg started, shocked.  “You’ve been here _that long_?”  

   

    “Who knows, maybe longer.”  Jake stated. He was looking up at the sky.  “It’s been this dark outside the entire time.  I’m starting to think we’re in another dimension.  I was the first one here, woke up alone. A while later, Dwight showed up and passed out.  Next was Claudette. Apparently, all our stories are the same. Running through the woods, then everything turns to darkness.  I’m guessing it was the same with you?”

 

    Meg bit her lip.  She didn’t want to bring up Emily.  “Yeah.” She said after a bit. “Pretty much the same.  I deviated from the running path, then ended up here.”

 

    “So, what’s your story?” Dwight said. “We were trying to figure out an MO for our abductions but so far, nothing.  I’m just an office monkey. Claudette is still in school as a plant major or whatever. Claudette and I are both from relatively normal backgrounds.  She’s like, a genius who graduated high school early or something. I’m just at a going nowhere job. And _that_ pretty much sums up what we talked about before you got here.  ASLO! Jake here, oh good ole buddy old pal, _apparently_ has no family background and just lives a humble life _off the grid_.  I mean, come on!  What normal person lives off the grid?!”  

 

    “Hey!”  Jake yelled angrily.  He was clenching his fists.  “I’m normal, ok?! Just because I don’t wanna tell my life story and give a bunch of personal information to a bunch of strangers, doesn’t mean I’m an asshole!  For all I know, one of you is in on this.”

 

    “Oh shit, not this _again_.”  Claudette said, resting her head in her palms.  It appears as if they already went through the loop with this subject.  Not like they didn’t have enough time to apparently. Meg still couldn’t believe any of this was real.  But something deep inside of her, or maybe it was her belief in the supernatural, told her something very real and very bad was happening to them.  

 

    Maybe it was just because Meg wasn’t surprised anymore when people just disappeared.  The only difference now was that she was the one doing the vanishing act. Her mother was going to be sick with worry.  She wasn’t doing well lately, and Meg could only think about what would happen if she didn’t get home in time. Her mother didn’t deserve to die alone.  God, who knows how many weeks it would take before someone found her in their home- “Hey, are you ok?” Claudette whispered next to Meg. She looked very worried.  

 

    “Yeah, I’m fine.  Just worried about my mom.”  Meg said, casting her gaze downward.  This was all _so fucked up_.  

 

    “So….”  Dwight said.  “.....What’s your story?  Anything unusual in your life that would lead to this?...... What’s your background?”  

 

    “I’m…. _normal_.”  Meg started, not looking up at the group quite yet.  “I was raised by my mom, never knew my dad, we lived alone…...We weren’t like, well off?  But we weren’t poor either. My mom always took care of us. My life was….ok. I was good for a track scholarship to college, but that fell through when….well, my mom got sick.”  A heavy silence filled the air. Meg was used to oversharing, a habit from her therapy sessions. Well, this wasn’t exactly therapy, and these people weren’t supposed to be helping her.  

 

    “I’m sorry about your mom.”  Jake spoke up first. The others nodded solemnly in agreement.  “So, I don’t know, we don’t have any big revelations about ourselves, nothing out of the ordinary.  I doubt getting into the nitty gritty would help, not that I wouldn’t love to hear about how well you guys did in school or something, or how many of us had a pet horse.”  

 

    “What the hell, have you had a _pet horse_?  Oh, let me guess, it’s a country thing.”  Dwight mocked. Meg couldn’t help but let a smile come to her face.  She shouldn’t be smiling in this situation, but she still wasn’t entirely unsure this wasn’t a bad dream.  

 

    “You know, hanging out with you guys isn’t so bad.  I’m not used to a lot of social interac-” Claudette started, before the group heard a loud heart beat pumping in and out of their ears.  They all looked around frantically for the source. One by one, they stopped to stare at this _man_ staring at them.  He was big, and was wearing a mask.  Glowing energy leaked out of the eye holes, boring into them.  Jagged teeth jutted out of the mask, scaring the air. He was wearing some kind of...suit.  Not a suit like Dwight's, but more like a _butcher’s suit_ .  Cuts adorned his body, and sharp pieces of metal peaked out of his skin.    _God_ .  Meg thought.   _He looks like he’s been hit by shrapnel_.  He held a bear trap in one hand, and a huge cleaver in the other.

 

    The group was frozen in fear.

 

    Dwight stood up first.  “Is this some kind of sick joke!?”  He cried, almost tripping over the log.  “WHO- WHO THE HELL ARE YOU-WHAT THE _FUCK_ IS GOING ON.  H-HEY….STOP GETTING CLOSER!”  Dwight’s yelling only grew louder and more frantic.  He needed to run, but something about his legs wasn’t working.  He couldn’t get them to move. Meg stood up slowly, and Claudette followed suit.  Claudette backed up a tad, putting herself in front of Meg. Jake got up and reached into his tool box, apparently grabbing a weapon.  

 

    None of that mattered now.  

 

    With Dwight's howling still streaking through the air, the _killer_ , or at least that’s the word that came to everyone’s mind, came stepping closer to them.  You couldn’t tell through the mask, but it just _felt_ like that bastard was smiling.  Suddenly, everything faded away.  Wisps of color flitted through the air, almost _deleting_ the area around them.  The group finally moved, closer to each other, backs against backs.  They didn’t know what was going on.

 

    Now in the empty space, Dwight was quiet.  There was just a howling in the air. Meg turned her head, only to see Dwight evaporate from the air.  It was like he didn’t even know it was happening. Out of the corner of her eye, the same thing happened to Jake.  “Hey, Claudette, are you still-”

 

    Megs sentence was interrupted.  “Meg? What’s happening?” That was the last thing Claudette said before she was gone.  Meg looked down to see her own self leaving, and it was painless.

 

    In a matter of seconds she was gone and there again.  In a whole new place. She didn’t even lose time. She was just _there_ .  Broken walls surrounded her, and a giant pillar with a _hook_ stood against the wall.  A generator was in the corner.  

 

    A faint heartbeat could be heard.

 

    Where the fuck was she?

  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  


_Meg had been in Emily's family car a lot of times.  The Carson's van was big, and fit a lot of people. That was good, considering the amount of family they had.  But today, Emily's father was giving Meg and her mother a lift the the Carson's barbeque._

 

_Emily was smiling, messing with the new doll she had in her hands.  Their parents sat in the seats in front of theirs, talking about the Thomas’ broken car.  “You know, Lucas and I could take a good look at it. I've been teaching him how to fix things lately!  We started with the broken generator in the garage…..” Mr. Carson droned on. Meg decided to tune them out.  She turned to Emily, seeing that the girl was staring at her. She leaned over._

 

_“Ya know, I help too.  Or well, I at least watch.  Dad won't let me help most of the time.  He's says that fixing the generator is ‘boy stuff’.  Whatever….Lucas let's me help when dad's not there.” Emily smiled at the end of her sentence.  The girl had been feeling better lately. No more….incidents. Or at least that's what Megs mother had told her before they were picked up._

 

_“I wanna learn stuff like that!  Sounds practical, and mommy says practical stuff is good.  Or something like that.” Meg responded. The girls started giggling.  They hadn't seen each other in a while. Meg was starting to worry about her friend.  It didn't help that the grown ups were keeping quiet about the situation._

 

_Before they knew it, they arrived at their destination.  Cars littered the side of the road and the grass. Seems like the whole family had come today.  They all hopped out of the car, the girls running straight inside. They left their parents in the dust, ready to play dolls in Emily's room.  Once there, the children plopped down on the carpet._

 

_“Hey Em, how have you been?  We haven't seen each other in forever!”  Meg said excitedly. She watched as Emily scooted over to open her you chest.  Handing a new looking doll to Meg, she started digging around for her favorite Barbie._

 

_“I've been ok….mommy says I should just tell you I'm fine, but I don't know, I'm not supposed to lie, right?”  After giving up her search, Emily settled in just playing with her new doll. Normally the girls would empty the whole chest, so something seemed off._

 

_“Its ok, I'm a good secret keeper!  I still haven't told anyone about the woods.  I don't like lying, but I think keeping a secret is more important.”  Meg didn't want to admit she was afraid to upset her  friend. Her mother had asked Meg if anything seemed off about Emily, to which she replied ‘No’.  She didn't wanna be a tattle tale. “Are you not gonna get the other dolls? Why do you have new ones? You love the other ones!”_

 

_“.......Mom said she tried to check on me the other night, and found me sleep walking.  She says I was….destroying my dolls. But that doesn't make sense! Fuck.” She said the last part very quietly.  “I just hate that I have to keep going to see that doctor. Mommy says she's gonna help, but I think it's helps to talk to you.  You make so much more sense than her. Mom just says I'm stubborn. And like, I know lying is wrong, but I kind of...don't tell my doctor things.”_

 

_Meg was hesitant to talk.  “What kind of things?”_

 

_“Well, I always tell her I'm fine.  But she doesn't let me go! She says I have to stay and talk things out.  It's so annoying! Nothing's wrong with me. I'm just having daymares. And-and mom's been so upset lately.  After I went to the hospital, some police officers spoke to me. The nurses even checked under my clothes for marks or something.  My parents were so upset, asking about the scratches on my back. Who gave them to me.. ..But they wouldn't believe me anyway. So now, Lucas says the government wants to take me away but can't for some reason.”  Emily sighed. She needed to get that off her chest. She was so frustrated. Nothing made sense anymore._

 

_“That sounds horrible, Em.  I'm so sorry…..I don't really know what to say.”  Meg looked away. She didn't really understand either.  All she knew was her friend was upset._

 

_“ I have something else to tell you, but you need to promise not to get upset.”  Emily said, reaching out her hand for a pinkie promise._

 

_“ Ok ok, I'm sure it's not that bad, Em.”  Meg smiled at her friend. Emily didn't smile back._

 

_“Ok,  but first we need to sneak out to the woods.  If you want to at least, Megan.” Not wanting to say no, Meg just nodded her head._

 

_“Ok.”  Emily said, an indescribable emotion washing over her face.  “Let’s go.”_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't wait to post the next chapter! I'm in the middle of writing it right now. :) So far, it's almost as long as this one, and I'm not even to the flashback portion yet.


	4. Trials,Trials

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group meets a difficult foe.

Chapter 4:  Trials, Trials

  
  


    Meg stood there in fear, listening to the dull heartbeat.  She heard it start to fade. She was holding in her breath until the heartbeat was nothing but a whisper.  Then nothing at all. Meg let herself breathe. She felt like gasping in air, but tried to remain calm. She walked slowly to her right, passing by crumbling pieces of walls.  Trees populated the area around her, and there was an impossibly large brick wall with spikes on top. She could only guess, but from what she saw stretching into the distance, the wall went on for a while.  In the middle of the area, she spotted what appeared to be a broken down factory. She suddenly felt something in her hand. She didn’t even realize she was holding the key. She stuck it in her pocket.

 

    She almost didn’t notice Claudette hiding behind a small tree.  “Hey!” She heard her whisper shout. “Come over here, we’ll hide behind that wall!”  

 

    Meg nodded.  She followed Claudette slowly.  Once they were out of sight, Claudette started speaking.  “Listen, I don’t know where the hell we are, but we should stick together.  We need to find a way out of this place.” Meg noticed her fiddling with her belt.  She then noticed the medkit was attached to it.

 

    “I agree.”  Meg stated, then stood up.  She grabbed Claudette’s hand and pulled her up from her crouching position.  The girls started walking along the edge of the wall, looking for an opening.  “Hey, we’ll be fine, ok? I’m sure we’ll make it out of this alive.”

 

    “I, um, wasn’t particularly thinking about _dying_ , but thanks anyway.”  Claudette said nervously.  The girls went on walking for a little bit longer, reaching a corner in the wall, then eventually a giant….. _door_.  “Uh, what the hell is this?”  Claudette was confused. The door was huge, and made of metal.  It didn’t appear to have a keyhole.

 

    The girls went up to the door and started pushing, but it didn’t budge.  “Wait,” Meg started, “What’s that?” She went over the what looked like a switch.  It was rusted and old, with some light bulbs on top of it. Meg gave the switched an experimental pull.  She repeated it a couple times before deciding it didn’t work.

 

    “Maybe it runs on electricity?  The door and lever, I mean. Maybe there’s some way to turn it on?”  Claudete asked. She looked around, but didn’t see any wires. Meg couldn’t figure it out either, but then one idea sparked in her mind.  

 

    “The generator!  Did you see it earlier?  Maybe that will turn it on?  I mean, it has to be used for _something_.”  Meg was talking, and Claudette was listening, but she was also walking toward a set of broken walls.  Looking through the hole where a window should’ve been, she saw a red generator. Meg walked over, seeing the generator as well.  She looked up, and noticed the lights attached to it.

 

    “I know how to fix one actually.”  Meg stated. “A…. _friend_ taught me.”  She explained, though she knew she didn’t have to.  Meg hopped over the ledge and went over to start working.  “Maybe you can keep look out?”

 

    “I can help!  I know how to fix one too.”  Claudette said, coming over to start working as well.  While they both started fiddling with wires, Claudette spoke again.  “We had a bad snowstorm one year. We had to get the old genny from the garage.  I helped my dad fix it up.  I was, um, big into electronic experiments when I was a kid.”  

 

    “Really?  I’ve never been into science…..I did well in school, but sports were always more of my thing.  In high school anyways.” Meg responded. She was surprised Claudette knew about generators. It wasn’t exactly a common hobby.  They continued working on the generator, sometimes hearing it click and clang. “This isn’t as easy as I remember it.”

 

    “Yeah, same, I always feel like I’m about to mess something up.”  Claudette said, pouting. _What a cute pout_ .  Meg shook her head.  This wasn’t the time for this.  They continued in silence. Meg was unsure of how to continue the conversation.  She supposed it wasn’t _necessary_ , but she really just _wanted_ to continue speaking to the other girl.  She’s never been good at talking to women, always too shy.  For the majority of her life, she even suppressed her feelings, afraid of what others would think.  Looking back on her childhood, things made a lot of sense when she came out to herself. Yet she never had the courage to come out to anyone else, or ever even date anybody.  There was a small part of her, buried deep inside, that hoped that when, _if_ , they got out of this, Claudette and her could maybe….. _hang out_.  

 

    “Ah, shit!”  Meg said, accidentally messing up during her daydreaming.  The generator popped with noise. “Fuck!” She yelled, before Claudette began to shush her.  In the distance, they heard shuffling. _A heartbeat_.  “We need to hide!”  Meg said, before running to hide.  She assumed Claudette would be following her, but she turned around to see her step inside a closet.  There wasn’t another one in sight, so Meg hurried behind a big tree, poking her head around the side. The heartbeat was loud in her ears.  

   

    She saw the _killer_  step around the side of the wall, turning to the cabinet.  His back was turned to her. His hand reached out, about to open the door.   _Meg could almost hear Claudette gasping for air_.  Before Meg realized what she was doing, she called out.  “Wait!”

 

    The killer turned around.  Meg froze. He started walking toward her.  Meg wanted to know how he was that _huge_ .  So, not knowing what else to do, Meg did the thing she knew how to do best.   _She ran_.  

 

    She sprinted, darting between trees.  She looked over her shoulder, noticing that he was still following her in the distance.  She turned around, only to smack herself right into a tree. She bounced back, thudding to the floor.  The heartbeat grew louder, but Meg just saw stars. As fast as her disoriented self could, she pulled herself up,  and started running away, slower this time. She was out of breath. She was fast, but even at this walking speed, the killer was faster.  A red glow illuminated the path in front of her.

 

    Meg hadn’t even realized she was running toward the factory until she literally hopped through a window.  The killers weapon bounced off the ledge. She ran toward the stairs, looking around, only to spot Dwight and Jake working on a generator, their faces paled when they saw her.  

 

    The killer appeared behind them, about to take a swing at Dwight with his cleaver.   _Fuck_.  Dwight cried out, “No!”  Jake darted out, pushing him to the floor.  Jake instead took the hard thwack. His shoulder appeared to burst, blood sprouting from the wound.  Dwight took the opportunity to run away, out the door. Jake miraculously got up. The killer was still cleaning off his cleaver.  Jake hobbled toward Meg, and they both began to run up the stairs. Unfortunately, Jake was slower. Meg turned around to help, but it was too late.  

 

    “Wait, man, nonononono-” _Squish_ .  A moist sound was heard as the killer swung his weapon into Jake’s side.  Blood started to spurt out. Meg looked at her companion, seeing him mouth _run_.  The killer bent to pick him up, and Meg turned back around and ran.  She turned a corner before reaching the outside stairwell, hurdling herself down it as quick as she could.  She ran as far as her legs would take her. She wound up by the gate again. She slowed down, heaving in air.  

 

    “Hey, wait up!”  A voice called out.  Meg spun around to see Claudette and Dwight following her.  “I’ve been following you since the killer saw you-I-I-I can’t believe you _did_ that.  I can’t ever thank you enough, Oh my god, Meg, I thought you’d be dead for sure.  I’m sorry, I should have never hid there.” Claudette rambled out her statements. She went up to Meg and gave her a big hug.  Meg was shocked, then started to blush. She wrapped her arms around Claudette gently. They pulled away. “Sorry about that.”

 

    “No!  I mean, it’s completely _fine_.”  Meg said, putting a hand on the back of her head.  

 

    “Not to interrupt _this_ ,”  Dwight started,pointing between the two girls, “But like, what the fuck is going on?  Is Jake ok? Where is he? Is he….dead?”

 

    “I don’t know, but he got hit again.”  Meg said sadly. “Listen, we need to get out of here, the generator is over there.  Claudette and I’ll work on it, you keep a lookout. We don’t wanna….” She was going to say _end up like Jake_.  She couldn’t quite stutter out the words.  

 

    “What?  Oh fuck, this is all my fault.  Why didn’t I just _move_ …...But yeah, you’re right.  We need to focus.” A long quiet followed.  The group headed toward the generator. Dwight was clearly distressed, as were they all.  “Also, I can help. One of my first jobs as a teenager was working on generators with my dad, he was a mechanic who helped out in the neighborhood during bad storms that would knock out the power.  I’m honestly surprised you two know how to work on them. I mean, Jake and I yeah, but…” Meg and Claudette glared at him. Knowing he fucked up, he shut his mouth.

 

    “I’m sorry, Jake.”  Claudette said quietly.  Her voice indicated just how sad she was.  Her voice was shaking. “I was hoping we’d all be ok.”  

 

    “Yeah….”  Meg said, and Dwight nodded his head.  The began working on the genny. All of a sudden, a bright flash flooded their vision.  A scream pierced their ears.

 

    “What the hell?!”  Dwight said, looking over his shoulder.  They all gawked. They saw the outline of a figure on what appeared to be a hook.  It glowed red. Meg shook her head from side to side. Whenever she looked at that _one spot_ , she saw the outline.  It looked like it was in the distance, and underground.  The outline had shaggy hair….it reminded her of-

 

    “Is that Jake?!”  Claudette said. She got up, and started jogging toward the apparition.  

 

    “Wait!”  Dwight said.  “What if this is a trap?”  He shook his head. “Look, this is my fault anyway, I’ll go.”  He reached into his pants pocket, procuring the flashlight.

 

    “Ok, white knight.”  Meg said sarcastically.  “But seriously, You can’t go alone-”  

 

 _The heartbeat_ . It started again.  Getting closer, louder. “Fuck it, I’m going, you guys hide.”  Dwight ran off, toward the glimmer of red. Meg and Claudette went after him, rounding the corner.  That’s when they noticed that Jake had to be in the factory. In the basement level of it, at least.  That’s also when they noticed the killer, _going after Dwight_.  

 

    “Shit.”  Claudette said.  “Hey listen, I know I said we’d stick together, but one of us needs to go help them.”

 

    “No.” Meg said quickly putting her hands on Claudettes shoulders.  She supposed she was being dramatic, but honestly, at this point, she didn’t believe they were gonna make it out alive.  “I’m coming with you. We’ll get them.”

 

    “Ok.”  Claudette said, and they raced forward.  Just in time, they saw Dwight get hit on his way through a window.  His shirt was ripped, and his back leaked blood. Then Dwight continued to run, the killer going in after him.  The girls continued to the factory, going inside. The saw the two running up the stairs, above them now. “Quickly!”  Claudette said. They ran toward the image, finding the stairs to the basement.

 

    It looked evil.  Meg pushed passed a paused Claudette, jumping down the stairs.   _They had to get him while Dwight acted like bait_ .  Claudette followed. They paused once down the stairs.  This place was filled with new and old blood. It almost spilled out of the walls.  Cracked red paint covered the….wood walls? Most importantly, there was this _giant hook pole_ in the middle of the room.  Dried blood could be seen covering the many hooks.  A...darkness covered the ceiling. Spider like legs hovered over Jake.  

 

    “What in the ever loving _fuck_ ?!”  Meg shouted.  They heard a scream.   _Dwight_.  Meg rushed over to Jake, attempting to lift him off the hook.  Once off, He flopped into her, making them both fall to the floor.  “Fuck!” She rolled him off of her. He got up slowly, holding his aching stomach.  He suddenly felt a bit better.

 

    “Shit!  Meg!” Claudette yelled.  In their haste, they barely heard the heartbeat starting to thunder in their ears.  “Get him!” Claudette rushed over, and they both helped him to his feet. In the corner of the room, Meg saw Emily.  Her eyes were boring into Megs soul. _Now was not the time for a fucking breakdown._  

 

    _Ba-thump._

 

    The girls took him by either arm, but he brushed them off, going to run up the stairs.  He suddenly felt _much_ better.  He vaguely noticed the dull ache in his stomach going away.  Emily got closer to the girls.

 

_Ba-thump._

 

    Jake rushed up the stairs.  The girls followed. At the top of the stairs, they noticed the killer walking down the other ones, Dwight on his shoulder.  

 

_Ba-thump._

 

    Suddenly, Jake ran over to the generator.  He picked up the toolkit. Grabbed a wrench.   _Oh, fuck._ Meg thought.  She felt shivers going up her spine.  She felt cold running along her skin. Goosebumps littered her arms.  

 

_Ba-thump._

 

    The killer was at the bottom of the stairs now.  Jake ran up to him, bashing him in the face with the wrench…...nothing happened.  It bounced off of the killer and flew across the room, hitting the wall. A sharp metallic sound was heard throughout the air.  

 

_Ba-thump. Ba-thump._

    He was getting closer.  He swung; Jake was still in shock.  This time, he hit him in the head. It gushed.  Meg swore she could see his brains. His skull sunk in a little, and he flopped to the floor.  His eyes rolled into his head. He was still breathing shocked little breaths. Emily was now behind the killer, still staring at Meg.   _STOP IT._

 

_Ba-thump.  Ba-thump. Ba-thump._

 

He walked up to the frozen Meg and Claudette.  Meg’s mind flashed back to her childhood. _Again and again and again and again-_  An eerie sense of familiarity washed over her.   _Not again_ .  She wouldn’t back down again.  She couldn’t let Emily- _Claudette_ -get hurt.   _Even if she was afraid._   

 

_Ba-thump.  Ba-thump. Ba-thump.  Ba-thump._  

 

    Meg wasn’t thinking clearly.  She felt Claudette grab at her arm, pulling tight.  Meg stepped out of her grasp. “RUN!” She yelled, before going up to the killer.  He dropped Dwight to the floor. Dwight slowly started crawling away. Meg felt like she’d lost her mind.  Like she’d finally snapped. Her old memories had triggered her into this incoherent state of mind. That, and this whole situation did.  Her breathing sped up.

   

_Ba-thump.  Ba-thump. Ba-thump.  Ba-thump._   _Ba-thump._

 

“I’m not afraid of you anymore!”  Meg yelled. In the corner of her eyes, she swore she saw Emily again.   _She wasn’t gonna be afraid of her, either._  

 

    _BATHUMPBATHUMPBATHUMPBATHUMPBATHUMPBATHUMP_

 

Meg swiftly went up to the killer, punching him in the face.  Her hand reverberated off his body. _Her hand felt like it was broken_ .  She tried again, kicking her leg up into his crotch.  He didn’t even flinch. Meg would have sworn he looked amused under that mask.  She gripped her leg, waiting for the impact of his cleaver. He swung his arm up, and Meg closed her eyes.   _At least maybe I’ll see the real Emily again.  I’m sorry, mom._

 

She never felt the hit….but she heard it.  She opened her eyes to see blood spurting out of Claudettes neck.  She stumbled, turning around to face Meg. Her eyes were open wide.  Meg couldn’t decipher the look in them. Her mouth was open in a silent scream.   _Just like all those years ago_.  No, this wasn’t the same.  

 

    Claudette stumbled forward, dropping to her knees.  A gurgling sound came out of the back of her throat.  Her hand was covering her neck, blood seeping through her fingers.   Meg was surprised she was still conscious. The killer was done wiping off his weapon.  He swung down again, but this time Meg pushed Claudette out of the way.

 

    He hit her in the shoulder.  Blinding pain sprung out from the now oozing wound.  Meg reached up, feeling the blood on her fingers. She hissed in pain.  She saw Claudette crawling toward her, apparently her neck had stopped bleeding?  She mouthed a “Help” to Meg. Meg stood up, about to walk the rest of the way to Claudette, but the cleaver wrung down on Meg’s back.  She collapsed onto the floor. Pain spreading throughout her body. She felt as if her spine was _shattered_ .  Her head laid on the floor, her vision going hazy.  She saw the killer go over to Claudette, who was backing up on the floor.  He swung and hit her head, slamming it into the nearby wall. Blood splattered everywhere, her skull had to be cracked, or indented, or _something_.  

 

    The next few minutes were a blur.  Meg vaguely remembered seeing the killer grabbing Dwight and then Jake, bringing them toward the basement.  She heard screaming from them. She opened her eyes and closed them. Upon reopening, she saw that Claudette had crawled toward her, surprisingly still alive.  Behind her stood Emily, frowning. Emily whispered something before she disappeared. _Sorry_.  

 

    “I don’t want to die.”  Claudette cried. Tears streamed down here cheeks.  “This sucks. This is such _shit_.”  

 

    “I’m sorry.”  Meg responded, her mouth gurgling a bit.  “I wish we could’ve made it out.”

 

    The killer came back up the stairs, grabbing Claudette first.  Meg heard a scream from down the stairs. He came back up and grabbed Meg, throwing her over his shoulder.  Meg wasn’t quite ready to die. She always thought she would be alone first. She expected her mom to die one day, _it shouldn’t be the other way around_.  She barely registered that she was crying.  Crying for the loss of her life. For the fact that her mother would have to die alone.  She took a big look back at her life, her mistakes as a kid, in middle school, not applying to college…….never taking a leap to love somebody.  It was a disaster.

 

    Finally down the stairs, the killer lifted Meg onto the hook.  A blinding pain shot through Meg’s should, and she screamed bloody murder.  After that, the killer left. The heartbeat slowly faded away. She heard grunting.  It seemed like Jake was struggling somehow.

 

    “.....Thanks for the good times at the campsite.”  Claudette said quietly. “I never really had friends outside of forums, so I’m glad I got to feel like a normal person before I died.”  She began to cry even harder.

 

    “I hated my job.  And I’m gonna miss my family.”  Dwight said sadly. He was crying.  Sobbing now. “I’ll never get to see them again.  God, it’s been _months_.”  

 

    “I haven’t seen my family in _years_.  I was always the black sheep of them.  And now they’ll never know what happened to me.  I always told myself I’d visit them again when I was ready…..But that’s down the drain now.”  Jake said, crying.

 

    Meg felt as if she had to say something.   _Anything_ .  Something important so she could die in peace.  “I never got to tell anybody who I really was…. I-I never told my mom I was into girls.  I never told her how much my childhood fucked me up. I never really got to go to college.  I never told her how I really _felt_ about anything.  It feels like all those years meant nothing, _like I betrayed her_ .  She was the only parent I had, and she loved me, but she never really got to _know me_.”  Meg was crying now too.  All those years spent in therapy, and this all comes out now?  How poetic. Like some kind of cosmic revenge. “She must’ve thought I was some ungrateful brat when I was younger, like I was some fucking piece of shit during middle school.  Nothing but a p-punk. She probably thinks I resented her for the therapy and the college thing. But fuck, she always took care of me anyway.”

 

    Dwight sputtered.  He had given up. It didn’t even register to Meg that he started struggling too.  He was lifted into the air by the spider legs. The group started crying harder. “I’m sorry guys.  I’m sorry I couldn’t help more. I was always the weak one to _them_.  Always in my brothers stupid shadow.”  The legs reached down, scooped up Jake.   

 

    “I’m sorry Meg.  I’m sure she’ll forgive you.”  Claudette stopped struggling with the leg trying to kill her, letting both of her hands fall.  The leg pierced her in her chest. She reached out her hand, taking Meg’s into hers. “I feel like I should say something profound here, but all I can think to say is that you’re cute…..I-I never got to tell anybody that befo-”  She was cut off by a gurgle coming out of her mouth. It was her turn now to be taken.

 

    Meg was sobbing.  Now a leg came down to pierce through her.  She grabbed it before it hit. She struggled for a couple of seconds, intending to give up, but she saw Emily in the corner.  “What the fuck do you want?! I don’t wanna hallucinate you while I die! Your-your disappearance, it ruined my LIFE!” Meg didn’t know why she was so bitter.  She thought if she ever saw the girl again, she’d be so happy. But this- _this was miserable_.  

 

    “I’m Emily.  I’m real...like a figment in this world now.  The Entity won’t let me go, even though I never gave up.  It turns out it shouldn’t take a child. We’re….useless as _them_ .  You’ll be ok.  For a while, at least.  I’m sure everything will be fine.  You just need to find the _key._ Not the one in your pocket, a red one.  The you need to escape alive. It the only fair way to win the game.  And both sides have to be able to win, apparently. Only one has won so far, _which isn’t very fair to me_.”   

 

    Meg was dumbfounded.  In her confusion, she stopped struggling.  She screamed as the leg pierced her chest. Emily sighed, then disappeared.  “I’m sorry, Megan. But it wasn’t my fault what happened that day…..it wasn't yours either.”  Her voice, echoing, was heard lightly in Meg’s ears as she was lifted up.

 

    Meg fazed through the building.  Eventually, she saw the night sky.  She supposed it wasn't the worst thing to see before she died.  She closed her eyes. Let herself drift off.

 

    When she opened her eyes again, she was at the campsite.   

  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  


_Meg followed Emily outside.  They had snuck out the front door, and were heading down the street.  ‘Where are we going?” Meg asked nervously. “Aren’t our parents gonna get mad at us?”_

 

_“It’ll be fine, Megan.  Geez.” Emily said. Meg didn’t like how her friend was acting.  Once, snooping on her mom while she was on the phone with Emily’s, she heard her mother asking if Emily was just ‘acting out’.  She wondered if that explained Emily’s attitude._

 

_“I’m sorry.”  Meg said, not wanting to upset her friend any further.  The girls went around the neighbors house, the one with the white fence.  The got to the end of the fence , then darted the rest of the way into the woods.  “They went by for a few minutes without talking. Meg was nervous. She was afraid.  The further they got into the woods, the more Meg’s breath quickened._

 

_“We’re here.”  Emily said finally as they reached a creek._

 

_“This isn’t a river.”  Meg commented._

 

_“So?!”  Emily said exhaustedly.  She was mad. And Meg hoped it wasn’t because of her.  Meg’s mother was always mad at things, but she always made sure to tell Meg that it wasn’t because of her that she was in a bad mood._

 

_“I’m sorry….”  Meg mumbled, always the people pleaser._

 

_“Here, this is a Ouija board.  Lucas got it out of the attic, said he used to play with it with his friends.  I wanna try something.” Emily sat down by the stream, opening up the case the board was in.  “I….I came out here to play with it once, and I saw a ghost I think. I ran away though. Ever since then, all this fucking bullshit has been happening to me…...I think they’re haunting me.  The people I see in the woods.”_

 

_“Um,”  Meg didn’t think this was a good idea.  She would’ve said so, but again, she didn’t want to upset Emily further.  “....Ok. So, like, we’re summoning ghosts or something?”_

 

_“Yeah, but last time I ran away…..this is what I wanted to tell you-show you.  Sorry I’ve been keeping secrets Megan. I just need you to do something else for me.  PINKIE PROMISE you can’t tell anyone what we see here today. Ok?” Emily reached her hand out.  Meg sighed, clasping letting the girl clasp their pinkies together._

 

_“Ok so, we like, ask it questions or something.”  Emily said, setting up the board. She put her hands on the planchette.  “C’mere. We gotta, like, put our hands on this and it tells us things.”_

 

_Meg wasn’t looking down anymore though.  She was looking through the woods. At this figure.  This…..woman. She held a hatchet in her hand. It was small.  Meg was frozen in fear. The woman started stepping closer._

 

_Emily turned, seeing the figure.  “SEE! I’M NOT CRAZY! THERE’S THE GHOST!”  She screamed. It was like someone was finally seeing the real her.  Meg stared at her friend._

 

_“Em….I think she’s real.”  Meg said. Getting up slowly, she reached down and grabbed Emily by the arm, pulling her up.  She started to walk backward, but was tripped up by a vine. She fell backward, but Emily caught her.  The woman kept getting closer._

 

_“I’m not running this time!  Why are you doing this to me?!”  Emily shouted. Meg was pulling on her arm, hard, but she wouldn’t budge.  The woman brought back her arm and threw the hatchet forward. It swung through the air and cut Emily’s cheek.  “Fuck!” She yelled, fear running through her veins. She looked more awake now. She took Meg’s hand, and they darted through the woods just as the woman threw another hatchet.  It smacked into a tree. The girls ran and ran and ran. Out of breath and stamina, they finally reached the forest edge. They dashed forward, almost running into the street. Emily pulled Meg all the way back to her home.  The snuck back inside, but ran all the way up the stairs. Emily pulled them into the upstairs bathroom. Once inside, the girls collapsed to the ground, panting. Emily finally let go of Meg’s hand._

 

_“Em- I can’t- what the fuck?  We need to tell your parents!”  Meg whisper shouted. Meg shuddered, having used an ‘inappropriate’ word for the first time.  She supposed she was picking up on Emily’s habit._

 

_“No!  We can’t!  They’ll be mad!  Please, Meg. I never told your mom how you broke her chair!”   Emily pleaded. Desperation was in her eyes._

 

_“Emily, that is not fair!  This is different! You have, like, a stalker or something.  That tried to kill us! This isn't ok! Mom told me to always tell her if a stranger was trying to hurt me.  Or even if it was someone I knew!” Meg was about to reach up and grab the doorknob, but Emily shoved her back down._

 

_“No! Please!  You can’t! I-I won’t be your friend anymore if you do!  My parents already think I’m a freak, they even talked about sending me to a new doctor…..I don’t wanna be punished, or for the government to take me away.”  Emily was begging at this point._

 

_“Did she give you the scratches?”  Meg asked finally, after a long silence.  She figured she’d at least bargain with her friend first.  She wanted to, but deep down, she knew she wasn’t going to tell on her friend.  Emily was her only pal, and she couldn’t lose that. Then it really would just be her and her mom.  “If you tell me, I’ll promise to keep it a secret. Also, you’re never going into the woods again, ok!”_

 

_“....Ok, fine.  Yeah, she gave me the scratches the last time I saw.  I think she controls vines? Or they help her? I backed up into a bunch of thorny vines before running.  They tore into my back and scratched it. And…..I promise I won’t go back. I think I learned my lesson, or whatever it is my mom says to Lucas.”  Emily sighed after talking. It was then that Meg noticed her friends cut, it was big and was dripping down her face._

 

_“Em, you’re bleeding!”  Meg said._

 

_“It’s ok, I’ll just tell them it was an accident, like with the scratches when they found out.”  Emily paused, thinking. “I’ll tell them I fell into the bushes! The ones in front of my house are rose bushes, they have thorns too!_

 

_“OK….”  Meg gave in.  Though a sinking feeling in her stomach told her this was wrong._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for reading so far! I really enjoyed writing this chapter :) I'm also in the process of making a spotify playlist for this series, if you guys are interested in hearing it, let me know!


	5. The Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The survivors have a chat.

Chapter 5 :  The Past 

  
  
  


Meg was shocked, to say the least.  In front of her stood the other survivors of this horrible incident.  And they were here again. At the campsite. The others all looked mystified.  They gave themselves a look over, trying to find injuries to their phantom pains.  Meg pinched herself.. She felt pain. She…..supposed that didn't mean she wasn't in hell.

 

“What….is this?”  Claudette spoke. She looked to her left, meeting Meg’s eyes.  “What  _ is _ this  _ nightmare _ ?”  

 

“God, we’re really dead, aren’t we?”  Dwight said. “I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t think I ever did anything  _ hell _ worthy.”

 

“Wait-hold up-how are you guys so calm?!  We just fucking died and now we’re back?!”  Meg was frustrated. She needed to know what the hell was going on.

 

    “Well, obviously we aren’t  _ dead _ .  Or at least, I don’t think we are.”  Jake muttered, sitting down. “Maybe this shit is magic.  I know I believe in paranormal stuff, but maybe that’s just because I grew up watching X-Files.”  

 

    “That’s just a tv show.  And I don’t think this is aliens.  I mean, I guess.” Claudette spoke.  She shook her head. She still looked like she was freaking out a bit.  She was shaking, but had the mind to sit down. Meg sat by her and put a hand on her shoulder in comfort.  

 

    “This- _ this _ \- WHATEVER this is?!  It  _ sucks _ .”  Dwight said, pacing back and forth.  “I felt it, I felt that pain. It was like nothing my dumb ass has ever felt before.  I felt myself die. This had to be some sort of haunting or some shit. Some ghosts dragged us to hell-yeah-hell…..that’s gotta be it.”  He rambled on. At this rate, he was gonna pace himself into a ditch. 

 

    Meg gulped.  Everything still felt eerily familiar.  She couldn’t get Emily’s face out of her mind.  She didn’t want to think about that day. The day she lost her.  The days beforehand-all those twisted memories. Meg sure wasn’t a skeptic. If anything, she was a believer, but that didn’t mean she knew what was true in this situation.  

 

    She couldn’t shake the feeling that she knew what had really happened to her friend.

 

    “Hey, Dwight?  It’ll-It’ll be ok.  Maybe you should just sit down.”  Claudette said through a shaking voice.  

 

    “ALL RIGHT? HOW IS  _ ANY _ OF THIS ALL RIGHT?!”  Dwight screamed. Although he still seemed to be extremely upset, he sat down.  He sighed, running his thumbs over each other. 

 

    “Don’t yell at her like that-she was just trying to help!”  Meg shouted. She was mad, and figured she could get away with taking it out on Dwight.  “It’s like, a few minutes ago we were dying and saying our last words, but we need to like, stay calm.  It will be ok. We just need to believe that. I don’t know what sick game this is, but it will be ok. It has to be.”  If they weren’t gonna be ok, then god knows about Emily. Meg wondered for a brief moment if she should mention the encounter, but stuffed that idea deep down.   If she was stuck with these people, she didn’t want them to think she was crazy. 

“....I’m sorry.”  Dwight said, sighing.  “I just…..what the fuck are we supposed to do?”  

 

“Well, apparently we aren’t quite…..dead.  I think.” Jake started. “Maybe we can try to piece things together?  Is there anything you guys saw there that means anything to you? Maybe we can figure out why we’re here.”

 

“And then maybe we can figure out how to get out of here?”  Claudette wondered. 

 

“Exactly.”  Jake said. 

 

Meg kept her mouth shut and looked down.  She didn’t know if the others saw demons from their past.  If so, she wasn’t planning on being the first one to admit it.  Luckily for her, Dwight spoke up first. 

 

“Well I mean, there were generators all over the place.  Jake and I figured one should open the door. Well, I guess there were  _ two _ doors.  From what I gathered, Meg and Claudette figured the same.”  He finished with a wave of his hand. 

 

“Yeah,”  Meg said, “We assumed the one by the gate would do it.  Though now that I think about it, there were other generators there.  Maybe-maybe it’s like a game. We need to find which one, or ones, open the doors.”  

 

“.....You think we’ll be going back there?”  Claudette said. “Cause that really….sucks.” 

 

“I have this sinking feeling she’s right.”  Jake spoke up. 

 

“Great!”  Dwight said, sitting on the ground and laying against the log.  

 

“Well….maybe if we open those doors we can escape?  Do you think we’re stuck here till we do that?” Meg said.  She was hoping she was wrong. She didn’t wanna go through that horror again.

 

“Maybe it’s the government.”  Jake said suddenly. “Maybe this is some dream device, like we’re all in comas or whatever.  Or-or-this is some advanced technology bullshit. Maybe we’re, like, guinea pigs.” Jake seemed to be reaching for answers.  

 

“I’d honestly sooner believe ghosts.”  Meg said quietly.

 

“Well,”  Dwight said, “I see we all have our bullshit preferences.”  

 

“Well, sorry for trying to come up with some ideas, loser.”  Jake said, shaking his head. “Anyway, anything else we noticed?”  

 

“Well….There was a factory in the middle of the area.  There was the wall, I doubt we could climb over it since it’s so high, and a bunch of dilapidated buildings.  Looked old and run down. It was….miserable. When I was following Meg, I saw that the building said  _ MacMillan  _ on the side.”  

 

    “Like,   _ the _ MacMillans?  Man, they’re like an old ghost story, eh?”  Jake said, before promptly shutting his mouth.  

 

    “Who the fuck are the MacMillans?”  Meg asked. 

 

    Jake sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.  “They’re like, this infamous ghost story in my family.  As well as a bunch of families we know.  The MacMillans were this rich family. And I mean, like  _ rich _ .  The son, Evan, ran the place.  He took over after his father. But, you see, he started working his people to death.  Eventually, he wouldn’t even let them leave. The say, that one day he sent them down into the mines….then blew it up!......He was never seen again.  They don’t know if Evan went down with the ship, or escaped to lead an estranged life. Either way, that was the end of the MacMillans. They later found the father dead.  The MacMillan Estate is like, haunted now. Kids and shit go in there to scare themselves. Some even say they see the ghosts of the men there, or even Evan himself. Apparently, things even move around in there.  I’ve never been there before, though I always wanted to go.” 

 

“You….think that’s we’re we are?  The MacMillan Estate?” Meg asked.  

 

“I mean, it’s a possibility.”  Jake answered. 

 

Meg remembered how the killer looked like he was hit with metal.  “Maybe that guy, the killer, is like, the ghost of a worker or something?  He looked like he was in an explosion.” 

 

“That’s…..actually a good observation.”  Jake said. “Listen, I know this is a little out of nowhere, but I’ve been thinking, and I don’t think we should be keeping secrets from each other.” 

 

“Says the guy keeping secrets from us.”  Dwight said. 

 

“Ok, well, I didn’t exactly ask the peanut gallery did I?!”  Jake yelled back to Dwight. 

 

“I think we should talk about ourselves.  I was just...thinking about how I thought Jake was a goner in there…..and, I, well…..just wanted to tell you guys about myself just in case.  Not that I don’t think we’ll be fine! It’s just….a precaution. Besides, as Jake said, I don’t think we should keep secrets, if we have any.”  Claudette said. 

 

Jake looked down.  Meg had a feeling he would be spilling the beans about his life soon enough.  And she was correct. “My name is….Jake Park. Like, the  _ Parks _ .”  

 

Everyone just stared at him.  

 

“Like….what?  You’re related to Rosa Parks or something?”  Dwight asked. 

 

“Ok first of all, that’s Parks,  _ not  _ Park…..But anyway, I meants like the Park family….you know, owns a company and shit?.....My dad’s the CEO of-”

 

“Ok, so you’re some rich smuck?  That doesn’t make you famous just because you’re part of the bourgeoisie.”  Meg said bitterly. 

 

“.....I don’t know, I just thought you would’ve heard of my family is all…..I guess it is just a rich thing to keep up with all the ‘big’ names out there.”  Jake said, rubbing the back of his head. 

 

“You mean like…..keeping tabs on the competition?”  Claudette chimed in. 

 

“Ok, you know, I didn’t say this so you could all roast me!”  Jake said. He seemed exasperated at this point. The group  _ was _ laughing at his comment though.  It surprised them that they were able to laugh in this situation.  

 

“Ok, seriously, finish your story.”  Meg said. 

 

“Well, now you know who I am.  I’m sure this is a given, but contact my family in case anything happens.  Though I’m sure eventually my mom-she calls me sometimes-well-she’d figure out I was gone eventually……..Anyway, like I said when we were  _ dying _ ….I was the asshole of my family.  My brother-now  _ he _ was the star-went to yale and everything.  Meanwhile, I dropped out of college my first semester and fucked off with all the money I had in my account to live off the grid on the edge of the woods.  I was just so tired of living in Brandon’s shadow, I had to get away. I’d been living in the woods for years before this happened. It just felt so peaceful to finally be alone and be myself.  I didn’t have to impress anybody out there.” 

 

“That sucks.”  Claudette said solemnly.  Dwight looked like he wanted to make some witty or shitty comment, but kept his mouth shut.  Meg just stared at the ground, bracing herself for her turn to speak. 

 

“I’m just a nobody.  Have been since high school.  My name’s Dwight Fairfield, by the way.  I wasn’t really anything, but I loved my family.  If I don’t make it out, tell them I said goodbye, that I’ll miss them.  That I’ll be looking over them or something.” Dwight said. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, and Meg swore he was trying not to cry.  

 

Claudette looked toward Meg.  Meg looked away. Claudette decided she should speak first.  “Like I’ve said before, I’m just a botany student. I assume you guys are from the USA, but I’m from Canada.  My parents live in Montreal. My name is Claudette Morel. Tell my family that I’m grateful that they let my scientific abilities flourish.  And that I love them……..OH! And tell my cousin Anna to go on my forum and tell them what happened!” Claudette said. Though the others found the forum bit a little odd, they didn’t say anything.

 

Suddenly, they were all looking at Meg.  “Well, my name is Meg Thomas…..I didn’t get to go to college, as you guys know.  Just….if my mom is still alive, tell her I appreciated her more than she’ll ever know…..and that I’m sorry for being that way when I was younger.”  Meg opened her mouth, about to say more, but closed it instead. She looked away. If the others noticed her demeanor, they didn’t say anything. 

 

“Well….what now?”  Dwight asked. 

 

“Well, I for one am tired.”  Jake said, leaning back like Dwight.  “I think we should get some rest while we can.  Does anyone wanna keep look out? Not that I think that matters anymore.”  

 

Meh spoke up quickly.  “I can!” She wanted to dwell in her thoughts for awhile before finally making her decision on whether or not to tell them about her theory.  She knew she should but…. _ hell, she didn’t really want to _ .  The others nodded, laying down.  All of a sudden, Claudette spoke up.  

 

“Hey, where’s our stuff?”  She said. The others looked around, but the items could not be found.  Meg felt in her pocket, but the key was gone. “Well, I guess that’s that.”  

 

A few minutes went by in silence.  Minutes and minutes more, Meg finally heard snoring from the boys.  She looked over at Claudette, who was staring at her. She blushed when Meg noticed, but didn’t look away.  Instead, she spoke. “Hey, um, I’ve been thinking and….I’m sorry if what I said about you being cute made things awkward.  I shouldn’t have done that….especially since I thought we were dying.” Meg didn’t know what to say. She wondered why the fuck Claudette would apologize for that.  It was the first time a girl had ever said that to her…..in a way that really affected her. She blushed hard, looking away, then looking back. 

 

“You don’t-like-need to apologize.”  She said, stumbling over her words. “That was um, really sweet, and if it wasn’t for this situation I would probably be in my room crying about a girl actually thinking I was cute in a non-straight way.”  She paused. “I mean, um, assuming you meant it in a gay way, if not that’s fine, you couldn’t just, like, I don’t know, been trying to comfort me-” 

 

“Oh, it was in a pretty gay way!  I mean, you know….sorry, I this is awkward.  I’ve never like, done this before.” Claudette was blushing.  They spent a moment in silence, aside from the snoring. 

 

“Neither have I…..” Meg said.  She tried out a smile, flashing it at Claudette.  She didn’t exactly know how to flirt, but she thought she’d give it a try.  She laid down on her side and scooted closer to Claudette. They were analyzing each other’s faces.  “For the record, I think you’re really cute too.” 

 

“Haha, thank you, Meg.  Hey, I think we both know this is wildly inappropriate for this situation, but it would be nice to finally get to  _ know _ another girl.  And since I think we both know that this may be something we might not get out of…..”  Claudette trailed off, biting her lip. 

 

“Yes!  I mean, yeah, I’d love to get to uh, know you too.”  The girls were both smiling brightly now. They just laid there for a while, staring at each other, blushing.  They didn’t speak, but the almost silence wasn’t uncomfortable. Meg felt  _ daring _ .  She went to reach out and put her hand on Claudette’s, before she heard a heartbeat.  She looked past Claudette’s beautiful face, only to see the killer standing in the background.  

 

A minute later and they were all back at the MacMillan Estate.  Meg looked around, seeing Jake to her left. 

 

It took them that ‘round’ and ten others before they finally pieced some more things together.  

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
  


_ Meg was getting ready at home.  She was going to a park today with the Carsons.  She and Emily hadn’t hung out in a couple weeks. The parents were upset when they saw Emily’s cut.  Meg was all sure they could see through the young girls lies. When Meg got home that night, she considered spilling everything to her mother.  But when she went to open her mouth, all she could think about was Emily. She didn’t say anything, unsurprisingly.  _

 

__ _ They heard a beep outside.  The Carsons were there already.  Meg picked up her blue and pink knapsack before heading to the door.  Her mother stopped her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Honey, be careful, ok?  Stick with Mr. and Mrs. Carson…...Just, stay safe. I know Emily hasn’t been feeling well, so just keep an eye out alright?”  Her mother bent down and hugged her tightly, before letting her go. She opened the door for Meg.  _

 

__ _ Meg hopped down the porch steps, waving goodbye to her mother once she reached the car.  Once her mother closed the door, Meg hopped into the car. Lucas was sitting in the middle seat area by himself.  Meg looked at the back and saw Emily waving at her, a big smile on her face. Lucas put the seat back, and Meg stepped into the back of the van.  She put her knapsack on the seat beside her, and buckled up. They then started a quiet ride to the park.  _

 

__ _ The parents were talking about work stuff.  Lucas turned around and looked at Meg. “We’re going to a new park, just so you know.  It’s at the edge of town. Probably a reserve or something like that.” He turned back around, staring out the window.   _

 

__ _ “I could have told her that!”  Emily said, kicking Lucas’ seat.  “But yeah, we’re going to a new park!  Isn’t that cool?” Meg nodded her head, smiling.  She was glad her friend was acting normal.  _

 

__ _ They chatted quietly on their way to the park.  They talked about how the summer was almost over, and how they weren’t excited for school.  They spoke about the new bell necklace that Emily got from her parents. In what seemed like no time at all, they were pulling into a parking spot.   _

 

__ _ “Ok kids, let’s go!”  Mr. Carson said. They all hopped out of the car.  They walked away for a bit, enjoying the nature. Emily and Meg spoke excitedly with each other, pointing out bugs and birds.  Eventually, when they reached a fork in the path, they saw a commotion. Two guys were shouting at each other.  _

 

__ _ “Oh come on, this is a park!”  Mrs. Carson said.  _

 

__ _ “Are they drunk?”  Lucas asked, and Mr. Carson elbowed him.   _

 

__ _ The two, out of nowhere, started pummeling each other.  “Oh shit-Hun, call the police. If I don’t try and break that up, they’re gonna kill each other.”  Mr. Carson said, pushing through the now formed crowd to try and break things up. Another man joined him.  Mrs. Carson pulled out her phone, then turned to Lucas.  _

 

__ _ “Lucas-hell-look after them ok?!”  She then turned away and stepped into the crowd.  The men looked abnormal in their fighting. More adults were trying to calm them down.  Meanwhile, a third man joined in on the fight. This was scaring Meg.  _

 

__ _ Lucas turned around.  “Stay here, ok?! Please don’t wander off, but don’t get close, this is dangerous.”  Lucas then turned around and stood up on his toes to get a better look.  _

 

__ _ Before Meg could register what was happening, she was being pulled away.  Emily was dragging her by the arm. “God, I’d thought we’d never get away!”   _

 

__ _ Meg, despite her better instincts, didn’t stop her friend from dragging her down the other fork in the road.  “Where are we going?! Lucas and your parents are gonna be mad!”  _

 

__ _ “I’m not a baby!  They think I can’t be like, alone now or whatever.  It sucks!” Emily complained. She sighed, eventually slowing down and letting her hand fall down to hold Meg’s.  “They even bought me this necklace, probably so they can hear me moving throughout the house. I’m like the neighbors cat or something!.........I’m sorry Megan, I know this sucks.  I just wanted to hang out just the two of us. My parents have been making me mad lately.”  _

 

__ _ “It’ll be ok, Em!  I know it!” Meg smiled at Emily.  She wanted to cheer her up. A few minutes passed with the girls still holding hands.  “You know Em, it’s ok if you’re not ok. My mom tells me that when I cry. She says you just gotta ask for help when you need it!”   _

 

__ _ Emily looked down, and silence fell between them.  “I’m scared, Megan. It feels like I’m gonna die or something.  Bad stuff keeps happening, and I don’t know why. But it feels like my fault.  Maybe I deserve this? Bad people deserve bad things to happen to them, right?”   _

__

__ _ Meg looked at her friend, shocked.  “No, Em, that’s not it! You’re not a bad person.” _

 

__ _ “Don’t bad people lie all the time, and-and-yell at their parents?.....and do things they’re not supposed to?”  Emily looked sadder then she ever had. Meg pulled her friend in for a hug. Emily cried.  _

 

__ _ “Em, I don’t know about any of that, but I think you’re a GREAT person!”  Meg smiled at the crying girl. “You’re funny and cool, and you’re my best friend!  I don’t know what I’d do without you! And that has to mean something, right?”  _

 

__ _ Emily smiled weakly.  “Yeah, I guess so.” She went to open her mouth, but her eyes fell into a space behind Meg.  Meg was confused, so she turned around. The hatchet woman was standing there, in the woods. “Me-Meg….I think we need to go.”  Emily grabbed Meg’s hand, running in the other direction, into the woods on the other side of the path.  _

 

__ _ The girls ran for what seemed like forever.  They ran until their legs almost gave out. Eventually they stopped, and Emily saw a spider web.  She wacked angrily at it, and the spider fell to the ground. Emily stepped on it, and what seemed like thousands of little spiders burst out  from under her shoe. “FUCK!” She screamed, and both girls backed away, smacking the spiders off of their feet. They heard a branch snap in the woods.  They turned their heads, only for a hatchet to fly past them. The girls screamed. They started running again.  _

 

__ _ Meg felt like she was losing her mind.  Everything around them screamed of terror.  She was out of breath. They both were . They felt like they were running for eternity.   _

 

__ _ Eventually, a tree came up between them, almost out of nowhere.  They finally let go of each other’s hands. Meg and Emily raced until darkness consumed one of them.  She left nothing but a broken path behind. The woman stopped chasing, vanishing back to her otherworldly home.  Her job here was done.  _

 

__ _ Meg ran and ran, eventually reaching the other side of that slimmer of woods.  It was getting dark out. In her haze of fear, she failed to realize that her friend was no longer with her.  At the edge, she turned around, but Emily was nowhere in sight. She heard someone come up behind her. She whirled around, but it was only a forest ranger.  “Are you Emily?” He asked her.  _

 

__ _ Meg shook her head.  “I’m-I’m Meg….she was-she was with me!  We were running and-” The man put a hand on her shoulder.  She looked behind him to see a police officer coming up behind him.  Meg finally realized how exhausted she was. She sat down on the ground, putting her head between her knees.   _

 

__ _ The next thing she knew it was finally dark out.  Lights flashed, a police car was on the path. Emily’s family hopped out of the car, along with Meg’s mother.  Meg got up, and her mother engulfed her, crying. “Don’t you EVER scare me like that again.” _

 

__ _ All of a sudden, Emily’s mother came up to her.  Lucas was standing behind her. In the background, Emily’s father was talking to an officer.  Emily’s mother put a hand on Meg’s cheek. “Where’s Emily? What happened? Where’s my baby? Where is she?”  Meg shook her head.  _

 

__ _ “We were running, I don’t know where she went!  I thought she was right beside me! I’m-I’m sorry, please stop shaking me!”  Meg was crying. Lucas finally pulled his mother away, and into a hug. He stared at Meg, looking at her body, cut up from running through the woods.   _

 

__ _ The police officers came over with Emily’s father.  They sat her down, told her the ambulance was on the way.  Told her to tell them what happened. So Meg explained everything.  Meg was sobbing, thinking the worst. “I’m-I’m so sorry, I-I-I was so scared.  She begged me not to say anything…..I’M SORRY.” She yelled the last part, looking at the faces of Emily’s family.  Lucas put a hand on her shoulder, looking at her sympathetically.  _

 

__ _ A cop came over, telling them something about a search party and a perimeter.  It all started blurring together for Meg. The next thing she realized, she was sitting on the edge of the ambulance, a blanket around her shoulders.  A woman was cleaning her cuts. Meg’s mother sat next to her, giving her a side hug. She looked intently at her child. Meg finally spoke. “They looked at me like I was crazy.”   _

 

__ _ “You’re not crazy honey, this is just….really messed up.  But don’t worry, the police are gonna find her. There’s only so much woods, she’s gotta be somewhere…..and they’ll find that stalker you were talking about.  Must be part of a cult or something….” Her mother said the last part quietly. She bit her lip, knowing she probably shouldn’t have said that.  _

 

__ _ “Look, Meg, everything is gonna be ok.  They’re gonna find her…..ok?” Her mother asked.  She looked like she was ready to cry too.  _

 

__ _ Meg let tears slip out of her eyes once again, nodding her head.  “Ok.”  _

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! :) I really enjoyed this chapter!


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